Study of 250 cities in 78 countries reveals how AI is catapulting cities into the future and shines a light on their AI plans, investments and practices. More than half (56 per cent) of cities are actively using artificial intelligence (AI) to upgrade government operations and services, and more than four-fifths (83 per cent) plan to do so over the next three years, according to a study.
Further underlining the speed of adoption, 87 per cent of surveyed cities are planning to use, piloting, or already using generative AI (GenAI) to generate content and analysis.
The global study of 250 cities was conducted by professional services firm Deloitte and AI platform specialist ServiceNow in collaboration with thought leadership research firm ThoughtLab.
AI-powered cities
AI-Powered Cities of the Future reveals how AI will catapult cities into the future and aims to shine a light on the AI plans, investments, practices, and results of a diverse set of cities located in 78 countries. To gain a balanced view, the study benchmarked cities with varying income levels and population sizes, from 50,000 to over 37.1 million people.
The research revealed that cities are employing AI across urban domains:
- 65 per cent are piloting or using it to streamline government operations
- 64 per cent to upgrade public transportation
- 62 per cent to monitor and respond to urban risks
- 60 per cent to better manage urban infrastructure
- 60 per cent to drive sustainability
- 57 per cent to improve the wellbeing of residents.
The cities report that they are already seeing benefits, from increased growth, better risk control, and cost efficiencies to improved citizen engagement, health, and safety.
Identifying the AI leaders
As part of the research, ThoughtLab created a maturity model to identify AI leaders – those cities with the highest level of AI usage across domains as well as the digital foundation and controls in place to succeed in the AI era. The analysis found that AI leaders are much better equipped to deal with today’s urban challenges, more resilient to day-to-day urban stressors, and better prepared for the future.
AI leaders achieve these results by taking eight key steps:
- Make a top-down commitment. AI leaders have a vision and plan for transforming their economies and urban domains through AI, backed by an adequate budget. Often these plans begin at the national level and cascade down to cities.
- Build a modern data and IT foundation. The road to AI leadership starts with gathering and integrating data from urban domains and external sources, and then putting the data on a secure, cloud-based platform with automated and scalable processes.
- Develop AI skills, talent, and processes. Talent gaps and inefficient processes can delay achievement of AI plans. AI leaders develop the skills, talent, processes, and culture to take AI to the next level, and 59 per cent appoint an AI head with the staff to make it happen.
- Cultivate an innovation ecosystem. AI leaders collaborate with more partners across the private, public, and nonprofit sectors than do other cities. They share AI expertise and resources, build access to data and talent, and align approaches with those of other government entities.
- Transform domains with AI and GenAI. AI leaders speed ahead of other cities in AI adoption: 76 per cent already make wide use of traditional AI today and 90 per cent will make wide use over the next three years. They are scaling these solutions across every urban domain.
- Unlock value by combining AI with other technologies. AI leaders are also ahead of their peers in deploying critical technologies, such as cloud, biometrics, cybersecurity tools, chatbots, IoT, and data analytics – often combining them with AI to supercharge results.
- Keep data security top of mind. AI leaders mitigate potential cyber and privacy risks by leveraging data backup systems (used by 80 per cent), cybersecurity defence mechanisms (80 per cent), automated risk monitoring (73 per cent), data-loss prevention tools (71 per cent), and other cybersecurity technologies.
- Ensure the responsible use of AI. AI leaders take multiple actions to manage AI properly. For example, 73 per cent build an AI governance framework, 61 per cent set guidelines for handling personal data, 57 per cent work with experts to set policies, and 55 per cent develop processes to detect biases.
AI is a versatile tool that cities can use to overcome key challenges and prepare for the future. Here are the top AI leaders that our research identified in each region:
- Asia-Pacific: Beijing, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Lucknow, Melbourne, Seoul, Taipei, Tokyo
- Europe: Amsterdam, Berlin, Bratislava, Ljubljana, Madrid, Marseille, Paris, Stockholm, Vienna
- Latin America: Curitiba, Mexico City, Niteroi, Sao Paulo
- North America: Boston, Chicago, New York, San Antonio, Seattle, Toronto
- Middle East and Africa: Dammam, Harare, Istanbul, Kuwait City.
“AI will be the common ingredient for future cities,” said Lou Celi, CEO of ThoughtLab and the study’s director. “It will help cities manage traffic in real-time, personalise citizen services, conserve resources, reduce carbon emissions, speed up emergency responses, and keep cities resilient in the face of unforeseen disruptions.”
The full report can be accessed here.
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Quelle/Source: Smart Cities World, 25.02.2025
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